Four decades ago, the southern German state of Bavaria became the birthplace of a film genre like no other. The alpine meadows were rugged, the men wore lederhosen, the porn was soft — and Germany was hooked.The 1970s Craze for Lederhosen Porn from Bavaria Germany (SPIEGEL ONLINE)

The NY Daily News claims the famed Catacombs of Paris are fast becoming a hot-spot for porn shoots. The say photographers, film-makers, models and actors are being busted on a daily basis sneaking into its vaults for sleazy “art” sessions among its six million human skeletons. Bosses at Musée Carnavalet, which manages the historic underground caves, say they are fighting a losing battle against the artists.Catacombs of Paris now hotspot for porn shoots (NY Daily News)

UCLA findings: “We show that decriminalization of the indoor sex market decreased police arrests of prostitutes, increased indoor prostitution advertising, and expanded the size of the indoor prostitution market itself. We also find decriminalization caused female (male) gonorrhea to decline 61 (27) percent from 2004 to 2009.”Manisha Shah Seminar at the Bing Center for Health Economics (RAND; thank you D!)

LoveHoney announced that they have released the only official licensed range of Fifty Shades of Grey sex toys and bondage items. The initial range of 20 soft bondage products and toys includes the Inner Goddess Silver Pleasure Balls, the Submit To Me First Time Bondage Kit and the Twitchy Palm Spanking Paddle.America: It’s Time to Play Like Grey (LoveHoney)

YAY! Bish Training has released Sex Explained – A Real and Relevant Guide to Sex, Relationships and You – a brand new and unique book for over 14s in the UK. It is aimed at young people who are having, or thinking about having, sex. It is the best of Bish in a lovely colourful and illustrated print book.Sex Explained (The Bish Book)

Two months ago, Kink.com Founder Peter Acworth launched a personal blog — PeterAcworth.com — to talk about how to maintain integrity in a workplace that’s rapidly changing. “I don’t pretend to have all the answers,” says Acworth, “But I hope that by raising some of the questions, we can start a discussion that will get us there.”Peter Acworth (peteracworth.com)

I love this! It started with one simple question that gave rise to a tumblr, a film, and now a book. Toronto-based Vivek Shraya had one question: What do you love about being queer?What Do You Love About Being Queer (Buzzfeed)

Photographer Jo Broughton began shooting empty porn sets in 2001 and released a book in 2008; so it’s not like upcoming photo project The Armory by Elizabeth Moran is as groundbreaking as media is telling us. Still, I think the year-long project – shooting the empty sets at Kink.com’s historical site – would be a fabulous book that I’d be first in line to buy.Porn Without the Porn: Sex-Free Photos Delve Into Fetish Fortress’ Wacky Past (Wired)

About 19,000 men and women suffer sexual assault each year in the military, former Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said, though he noted that only about 3,200 assaults were reported. About 10,700 of those cases — 56% — involved male victims in 2010, based on anonymous reporting collected by the military.Military rape victims: Stop blaming us (CNN)

People across the EU will be relieved to know that MEPs have voted against a proposal suggesting a blanket ban on internet pornography. The move was part of a wider remit to stop the sexualisation of women in advertising and media. Fern Brady wisely argues, “Getting someone who knows nothing about pornography to govern our online sexual behaviour is as backwards as roping in someone who knows nothing of poverty to make vital decisions on welfare policy.”Porn for all, not a ban, is better for women (Guardian UK)

A clothing store in Sweden is being hailed by women around the world after a photo of two surprisingly curvy mannequins were photographed and posted online. Dressed in skimpy lingerie, the mannequins displayed softer stomachs, fuller thighs and generally more realistic proportions than the traditional department store models.Swedish Mannequins Spark Internet Praise-A-Thon (Yahoo Shine)

I agreed to be on the “Adult Industry Trends & Their Mainstream Implications” SXSW panel as a favor for a SXSW organizer, but before I was introduced the moderator told the audience the women onstage were going to make a porno with the guys onstage instead of talking, and then the porn people (who were nice) showed the audience porn instead of introducing themselves and explaining their professional credibility for being on the panel. I did go on a nice pro-bittorrent, anti-filesharing-lawsuit rant, though.SXSW: Adult Industry Faces Struggles To Keep Up With Technology (Techcitement)

A bizarre German NGO raises cash from amateur porn to help rescue the rainforest—and now it’s the star of a new documentary at South by Southwest. Marlow Stern takes a peek.Meet the Germans Having Sex to Save the World (The Daily Beast)

A federal judge dramatically raised the stakes of a hearing on alleged misconduct by porn copyright trolling firm Prenda Law and ordered all its lawyers into court – including one many think does not exist. Judge Wright had ordered six other Prenda affiliates (or alleged affiliates) to show up in response to his order regarding possible sanctions for their behavior. None of those named parties showed up to the hearing in person, apart from Alan Cooper of Minnesota.Angry judge blasts porn trolls: “Someone has an awful lot to hide” (Ars Technica)

“Racism exists, and it exists in porn,” says the iconic, award-winning porn star Kristina Rose, who has been featured in more than 400 adult movies. TMZ last month took the time to point out that in making more than 100 films, Alexis Texas, another award-winning porn star, has never worked with black guys. Texas refused comment for this story.Interracial Sex Still Taboo for Many Porn Stars (The Daily Beast)

The London Times named Violet Blue "One of the 40 bloggers who really count" and Self Magazine named TinyNibbles one of the “Best Sex Resources for Women.” Blue is an autodidact and pundit on sex and technology, hacking and security, porn for women, privacy and bleeding-edge tech culture. She is a journalist for ZDNet, CBS News, CNET; she's an educator, speaker, crisis counselor, volunteer NGO trainer, and the author and editor of over 40 award-winning books.